Lincoln-Way East ends Stevenson’s season
Lincoln-Way East’s standout quarterback Jonas Williams would be the first to tell you that the outcome of a game can’t be decided by just one person.
But if Friday night is any indication, one person can alter quite a bit.
Williams, who had missed the last two regular season games with a foot/ankle injury, was back under center for Lincoln-Way East’s opening round playoff game against Stevenson and his return seemed to re-energize the entire roster as it rolled to a 45-0 victory.
The win lifts Lincoln-Way East (8-2) into next weekend’s second round where it will travel to Palatine, a 29-8 winner over Whitney Young.
Lincoln-Way East entered Friday’s playoff game in an unusual situation for the Griffins. Back-to-back losses to Naperville North and Sandburg, without Williams and several other key players, had the Griffins looking to rebound from the program’s first two-game losing skid since 2004.
Williams wasted no time in making sure the streak wasn’t going to reach three. Although his first two passes were incomplete, his third was a nifty swing pass to Brody Gish to get a new set of downs and then Williams lofted a beauty to Jack Murphy for a 45-yard touchdown score.
“I felt like I was in rhythm immediately,” Williams said of the fast start. “I’ve been able to practice all week and I was able to get back in rhythm with them and it was just good to get back out here.
“The last two weeks it was like a fire burning inside of me. I really wanted to play but I had to be patient.”
After Williams got the Griffins on the board, the defensive unit, bolstered by the return of defensive lineman Jacob Alexander, quickly forced a three-and-out and got the ball right back to Williams and company.
Five plays later, Williams had his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 6-yard reception from Will Schlinger. Jayden Cawthon set up the touchdown with a spectacular grab.
Grant Urban tacked on a 41-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter to stretch Lincoln-Way East’s lead to 17-0 and Stevenson seemingly had no answer on either side of the ball.
The Patriots’ inability to extend drives kept ending with Lincoln-Way East getting the ball back quickly and the Griffins knew what to do with it. Brody Gish started the second quarter with a 6-yard TD run and Williams added touchdown passes three and four to Schlinger and Matt Orban before the first unit left the game.
Williams finished 9 for 19 for 228 yards and four scores. Williams is now 238 yards short of the state’s all-time career passing yardage total.
“Obviously, you can argue it if you want, but in my opinion, he’s the best high school quarterback in the country. When he’s out, you know, things changed a little bit,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “But it wasn’t just him, Jacob Alexander was back at the edge and he’s a Power 4 kid. We didn’t talk a lot about it, because we’re not in the business of making excuses. But it was a little bit of unfamiliar territory with a rash of injuries, but we persevered through it.”
Aidan Cavanaugh powered in for a rushing score late in the second quarter to ensure that the running clock would be in motion for the entire second half.
Stevenson, who also lost 45-0 to Lincoln-Way East in last year’s playoffs in the quarterfinal round, netted less than 100 yards in the contest and spent most of the game in its own territory.
“It was a good effort,” Zvonar said. “We were tough and gritty on defense like hopefully we are. We wanted to get our confidence back a little bit and show maybe who we really are.
“This will give us that momentum moving forward into the second round, which for us puts us back at zero and zero and we got a chance to play another one-game season. And if it works out, maybe we get a chance to play one more and so on.”